Paper cutter for facsimile machine



Sept. 9, 1969 Filed Nov. 8, 1966 F. T. BILEK PAPER CUTTER FOR FACSIMILE MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 9, 1969 F. T. BILEK PAPER CUTTER FOR FACSIMILE MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 8, 1966 Sept. 9, 1969 F. T. BILEK 3,465,632

PAPER CUTTER FOR FACSIMILE MACHINE Filed Nov. 8, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A paper cutter for transversely cutting paper stock in web form in which a movable blade is caused to move with respect to the fixed blade so as to draw the paper into the point of intersection of the blades.

This invention relates to web cutting and more particularly, to an improved cutter for cutting a moist paper strip being fed through a facsimile machine.

Facsimile machines incorporate, in general, a large roll of paper in web form which is fed through the machine to provide the necessary copy surface during facsimile reproduction. If the facsimile machine employs a wet reproduction process, the web or strip at the time of severance is moist. In the past, such facsimile machines have been provided with manual or automatic cutting devices for severing the Web into various length strips depending upon the extent of material being reproduced or copied. The cutting or severing apparatus normally incorporates a pair of relatively movable shearing blades, one of which may be fixed and the other of which may be moved to elfect a desired cutting action. It has been found that shearing of the web is enhanced if the shearing proceeds across the web from one edge to the other. Cutting apparatus normally comprise a pair of blades, pivoted at one end in conventional scissors fashion, with the point of blade overlap moving longitudinally of the cutting blades from one side of the blade assembly to the other. Thus, the shearing action on the interposed web of material progresses transversely across the strip at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the web itself. In this case, the shearing eifect itself tends to push the uncut web away from the area of nip between the advancing blades. The tendency for the web to move away from the cutting action may not be detrimental when cutting a dry web, but when used in a wet copy facsimile environment, there is a tendency not only to provide a ragged cut, but in addition, the web tends to roll or bunch r in the nip area.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide an improved web cutter for transversely cutting elongated web stock which prevents the normal tendency of the web to jam in response to the cutting action.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved web cutter in which the movement of the cutting blades during the cutting stroke tends to move the web material into the nip area between the relatively moving blades.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved web cutter which ensures a clean transverse cut regardless of the moisture content of the web stock being severed.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved web cutter of this type in which the amount of blade overlap and surface contact between the relatively moving blades may be easily and readily adjusted.

Other objects of this invention will be pointed out in the following detailed description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the 3,465,632 Patented Sept. 9, 1969 best mode which has been contemplated of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a facsimile machine employing the improved paper cutter of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a rear perspective view of the paper cutter shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the paper cutter of FIGURE 1 showing the manner of angular adjustment of the relatively fixed upper cutting blade.

FIGURE 4 is a rear elevational view of the improved paper cutter of the present invention.

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of the paper cutter shown in FIGURE 4 taken about lines 5--5.

FIGURE 6 is a schematic diagram of the electrical circuit associated with the improved paper cutter of the present invention.

In general, the apparatus of the present invention comprises an improved paper cutter for transversely cutting paper stock in web form including a first longitudinally extending fixed blade and a second longitudinally extending movable blade spaced therefrom. An elongated web is positioned between said blades for cutting. Means are provided for initially moving one end of the second blade predominantly vertically and the other end of the second blade predominantly horizontally to achieve blade edge overlap and for thereafter moving said one end of said blade predominantly horizontally and the other end vertically tending to move the web into the nip area between the blades asgthe nip area proceeds transversely across the web during the cutting stroke.

In a preferred form, the upper longitudinally extending blade is fixed with the blade surface extending horizontally and the lower blade is supported in a slightly inclined position by spaced, double pivot mounting arms. The first pivot arm, which supports the higher end of the inclined lower blade, is initially in a generally horizontal position while the second pivot arm supporting the lower end of the inclined lower blade is initially vertically oriented. One of the link members is oscillated about its fixed axis to achieve the desired cutting stroke, causing the lower blade to move upwardly and overlap slightly the longitudinal cutting edge of the fixed upper blade.

Turning to the drawings, there is shown at 10 a facsimile machine of conventional construction which comprises a rectangular cabinet member 12 including a front door or like member 14 which may be readily opened by means of handle 16 to allow the operator to have access to the machine interior. The improved paper cutter, indicated generally at 18, is supported on the upper surface 20 of the cabinet member, principally by means of a base plate 22 including a pair of frontal base sections 23. The improved paper cutter of this invention, while advantageously employed with the facsimile machine 10, has general application to all fields involving the transverse cutting of web material. In this case, paper Web 24 carried on a roll (not shown) exits from the facsimile machine section and moves upwardly and to the rear of the apparatus, as indicated generally by arrow 26. The facsimile machine 10 utilizes a Wet reproduction process such that the web 24 leaving the facsimile area is moist as it passes through the paper cutter 18.

Fixed to the base member 22 of the cutter at approximately the center thereof and extending transversely across the cutter is a main vertical support member 44 which includes a major central cut-out area 45 through which passes web 24 as it is directed rearwardly of the machine. A left-hand side wall 42 provides rigidity to the cutter having one edge coupled to the left-hand edge of transverse Wall 44 and a lower edge coupled to the left-hand frontal base section 23. In like manner, on the right-hand side of the machine (FIGURE 1), a vertical side wall 58 is coupled to the frontal base section 23 and to the transversely extending wall 44 at the rear edge thereof. The frontal base section 23 extends transversely of the machine only a short distance providing, within cutter 18, a frontal base opening 25 which easily allows the web 24 to move upwardly and into the cutter itself.

An L-shaped support bracket 46 is bolted to the transverse wall 44 at base 48 by a number of bolts 50. The rectangular bracket or plate 46 acts to support a feed roller motor through the use of motor bracket member 52 and a number of mounting bolts 54. On the righthand side of the machine (FIGURE 1), a U-shaped bracket 70 on the vertical side wall 58 acts in conjunction with bracket 46 to support a transversely extending positively driven feed roller 28, the feed roller being mechanically coupled to the output shaft (not shown) of the drive motor 30. The web 24 moving upwardly overlies the horizontal feed roller 28 with the feed roller motor 30 determining the length of web 24 which is fed at any time to the paper cutter 18. An idler roller 32 is biased into contact with web 24 and sandwiches the web between the idler roller and the positively driven feed roller 28. The web is caught in the nip area between the rollers with the direction of web movement changing from vertical to horizontal as it moves rearwardly into the shearing area of the paper cutter.

Referring to FIGURE 3, the left-hand side of the cutter and vertical side wall 58 extend forwardly of the machine at right angles to the transverse vertical support wall 44.

A U-shaped bracket member 70 having a base portion '72 and inner and outer side walls 74 and 76, respectively, is securely afiixed to the inner surface of vertical support wall 44 by spaced rivets 80. The support bracket 70 opens up toward the front of the machine. As may be seen, the paper drive roller 28 is journaled in the lower part of wall 74 of the bracket 70. An upper blade assembly 82 is pivotably coupled to the left-hand bracket 46 and the U-shaped support bracket 70 positioned within transverse wall cut-out 45. The upper blade assembly comprises a generally U-shaped blade support member 84 which includes a longitudinally extending, generally vertical blade support section 86 and a pair of forwardly directed side walls 88 and 90, respectively. The upper blade 92 is afiixed to the blade support section 86 by means of spaced bolts 94 (FIGURE 2), thereby providing a relatively fixed horizontally oriented, longitudinally extending cutting edge 96 for the upper blade element. The upper blade assembly 82 is pivotably supported on vertical support bracket 46 and bracket side wall 74 by a pair of axially aligned bolts 98 and 100. Aligned openings (not shown) are provided in side wall 46 near the upper edge thereof and side wall 88 of the upper blade assembly 82 while axially aligned openings (not shown) are provided in wall 90 of the blade assembly 82 and side wall 74 of the U-shaped bracket 70. Coil spring 104 is concentrically positioned about bolt 100 and has one end 106 securely fixed to the head end of the bolt, while the other end of the coil spring extends at right angles to the axis of the spring and bolt and is securely positioned in a hole formed within end plate 90. Spring 104, therefore, tends to bias the upper cutter assembly 82 to the left (FIGURE 1).

The U-shaped bracket member 70 is provided with a pair of aligned, rectangular slots 114 and 116 which receive slide member 118. A coil spring 120 is rigidly coupled to wall 74 at one end while the other end 124 is coupled to a right angle pin member 126 carried by the slide. Thus, coil spring 120 tends to bias the slide 118 against the outer surface of the blade side wall 90.

As best seen in FIGURES 3 and 5, the right angle side wall member 90 of the blade assembly has coupled to its outer surface, an eccentric or cam member 128, the cam member being eccentrically mounted by means of screw 4 127. Slide member 118, carried by the stationary frame of the machine, is pulled away from wall against the bias of spring 120, whereupon the eccentric cam member 128 is loosened and rotated about its axis to increase or decrease the radial extent of its peripheral surface with respect to the face of slide member 118. Thus, the angular position of the upper blade assembly about the pivot axis formed by bolts 98 and is determined by the angular position of the cam 128. When viewing the cutter as in FIGURE 5, the inclination of the upper blade 96 may be increased by loosening cam member 128 and rotating it counterclockwise and subsequently tightening the same. The cam member, therefore, acts as a stop member in conjunction with reciprocating slide 118 to determine the extent of counterclockwise rotation as indicated by arrow 112 under the weight of the assembly itself.

The upper blade assembly 82 has the further function of supporting the idler roller supporting assembly, indicated generally at 131. An elongated rod 38 extends transversely of the opposed side walls 88 and 90 of the upper blade assembly passing through aligned apertures. The rod 38 carries a pair of spaced idler roller support arms 34 which depend downwardly from and carry at their bottom ends the idler roller 32. The roller 32 is freely revolvable about the roller axis on the spaced support arms 34. Gravity ensures a light biasing pressure on the idler roller which acts to sandwich the web 24 between the idler roller and the positively driven feed roller 28.

Referring next to FIGURE 2, the lower blade assembly 130 includes an elongated blade support member 129 and the lower blade 133 which is coupled to the upper end of the blade support member 129 and generally in line therewith. While the upper blade assembly 82 is positioned with the cutting edge 96 of the blade extending nearly horizontally, the cutting edge 136 of the lower blade assembly in its initial position is slightly inclined upwardly from right to left when viewed in FIGURES 2 and 4. The lower blade assembly is supported in this manner by spaced, pivotable support arms 138 and 140, respectively. The right-hand support arm 140 is pivotably coupled to vertical support member 44 by means of bolt member 134 while the lower end of the lower blade support arm 140 is pivotably coupled to the blade support member 132 by a second bolt member 148. Thus, the blade support arm 140 is free to pivot about the axis formed by bolt 134 and the lower blade assembly 130 may freely pivot on the same support arm about the axis of bolt 148. The left-hand lower blade support arm 138 is of somewhat the same configuration and is pivotably coupled at its lower end to a stationary vertical support member or bracket 152 by bolt 150. The U-shaped bracket 152 has its base section coupled to the cutter base plate 22. The left-hand support arm is pivotably coupled to the blade support member 132 at its upper end by bolt 162. Unlike the right hand pivotable support arm 130, the left hand pivotable support arm 138 is oriented, prior to the initiation of the cutting stroke, at a slight inclined but generally horizontal position, whereas the right-hand support arm 140, when the cutter is idle, is oriented in a generally vertical position. The pivotable bolt connection 162 also serves a second function of supporting the left-hand end 164 of crank member 166. The right-hand end of crank member 166 is pivotably coupled to drive motor arms 174 by a suitable pin connection 172. The rotatable arm is driven in a clockwise direction, as indicated by arrow 176, about its axis 178 with a pivot 172 following the circular path described by dotted circle 175. The arm 174 is driven by electrical motor means which has its drive shaft 177 secured to the arm 174, thus defining the axis 178.

With the arm member 174 rotating in a clockwise direction (FIGURE 4) and the pin connection 172 moving smoothly from the initial position shown to a position indicated by circle 172, the left-hand end of the blade assembly 130 will initially move, essentially vertically, as the left-hand support arm 138 pivots about the axis formed by bolt 150 in an arcuate path identified by arrow 182. Simultaneously, the right-hand end of blade assembly 130 will be initially moving in primarily a horizontal direction as its support arm 140 and hence pivot 148 move in an arcuate manner to the position indicated by circle 148. Thus, the initial action of the blade is essentially a vertical cutting motion of the left end of the blade with essentially no scissors action in view of the horizontal motion of the right end. As the rotation of the arm 174 continues toward position 172", the left-hand edge of the blade assembly tends to have its motion changed from primarily a vertical direction to primarily a horizontal direction, with the pivot moving from position 162' to position 162". Likewise, during the later stages of the cutting stroke, the right-hand side of the blade assembly 130 has its motion changing from primarily a horizontal direction from right to left to primarily a vertical direction upwardly toward the sta tionary blade assembly 82 as the pivot 148 moves to position 148". This is especially important where the cutter is being used to transversely sever a web, such as moist facsimile recording paper.

The tendency, therefore, is rather than the web moving away from the nip area at blade overlap between the relatively moving blades, the moist facsimile paper will be moving in a direction toward the nip area as shown by arrow 180. The paper moves into or toward the cutting point proceeds from left to right as the inclined lower blade assembly moves into overlapping relationship with the upper blade assembly. The dotted line 286 (FIGURE 4) indicates the high point of the lower blade assembly and shows its inclined, overlapping position with respect to the upper blade assembly 82. This movement of the lower blade with respect to the upper fixed blade is in sharp contrast to the normal scissors action employed in most conventional cutters in which pivoting the left-hand ends of both blades causes the point of overlap to move from left to right in the same manner but the web or other material being cut has a tendency to move away from the nip area between the two blades as cutting proceeds from one side to the other.

Referring to FIGURE 5, it is noted that the inclined cutting edge 136 of the lower blade assembly 130 must pass over the relatively stationary, horizontally positioned, cutting edge 96 of upper blade assembly 82. As set forth previously, the angular position of the upper blade assembly 82 is controlled by the angular position of adjustable cam member 128. After setting the position of the upper 'blade assembly, it may be necessary to ensure proper movement of the lower blade assembly past the upper blade assembly to achieve overlap of the cutting blades during the cutting cycle. In order to prevent the lower blade from impinging on the upper blade, plate 186 is adjustably positioned on vertical support plate 44. The adjustment plate 186 is in the form of a thin disc and is fixed to a threaded screw member 188. The vertical support plate 44 includes a threaded aperture 190 which receives the threaded screw 188 and a nut 192 is carried on the screw for locking the screw in position with the plate 186 spaced horizontally from support plate 44 at a desired distance. Adjustment is achieved by placing a screwdriver or the like (not shown) in slot 194, and, while holding the nut 192 with a wrench or like implement (not shown), rotating the threaded screw 188 to move the disc-like abutment plate toward or away from the fixed vertical support member 44.

The lower blade assembly consisting of blade support member 128 and the blade 133 is inclined upwardly and tilted toward the oncoming paper web with cutting edge 136 leaning toward the wall surface of the vertical support member 44. The extreme left-hand tip 196 of the cutting edge 136 contacts the outer face of the disc-like adjustment plate 186.

Adjustment is made when the cutter is idle. When the lower blade assembly is at rest position (FIGURE 4) prior to initiation of a cutting cycle, the left-hand tip 196 of the upper blade of the cutting edge 136 contacts the adjustment plate 186. Subsequently, during the cutting cycle, the upper tip edge of the cutting blade will slide on the adjustment plate to the left and upwardly until the left-hand side of the lower blade 133 slightly overlaps the upper blade 92. After overlap is achieved between the left-hand sections of the blades, and as the nip area or point of contact between cutting edges moves from left to right (FIGURE 4), any tendency for the lower blade assembly to bind on the upper blade assembly will be overcome by a clockwise rotation of the upper blade assembly about mounting bolts 98-100 against the bias of coil spring 104, thus ensuring power blade contact as the line of cut moves transversely of the web.

As mentioned previously, the cyclic operation of the cutter is achieved by means of electric motor which rotates the arm member 174. A typical operation of the paper or other web feed and the cyclic operation of the cutter may be seen by reference to FIGURE 6 which shows schematically the electrical circuit as utilized in conjunction with the facsimile machine. An alternating current electrical supply is delivered to terminals 200 and 202. For instance, terminal 200 may be connected to the hot line of a single phase alternating current source with terminal 202 acting as the return side of the system. Current will, therefore, pass from terminal 200 through line 204 and line 205 to relay-operated switch 218. The relay-operated switch 218 includes upper and lower stationary contacts 220 and 222 and a movable contact 224. A set of normally open, single pole, single throw relay contacts 206 act in conjunction with lines 204, 207 and 212 to energize the cutter motor 170. The relay contacts are closed responsive to a pulse signal which indicates the paper is to be cut in a well known manner not forming a part of this invention. The movable contact 224 is normally in the up position, closing on contact 220 and completing a circuit through a line 226 to the paper feed motor 30. A common return line 228 connects the feed motor 30 to the return terminal 202. Line 204 acts additionally to complete a circuit including normally open, single pole, single throw contacts 206 to the holding relay coil 214 by means of line 216 and the return to terminal 202. Upon energization of the relay coil 214, the normally up movable contact 224 moves down, opening the circuit to the paper feed motor bet-ween stationary contact 220 and movable contact 224 and closing the circuit between this contact 224 and stationary contact 222. Current then passes through line 205, contacts 222 and 224 of relay 218 and line 230 to a limit switch 210. Limit switch 210 is a normally closed switch including a stationary contact 232 and a movable contact 238 which is held open by cam 234 when the cutter is in an at rest position. Since the motor which drives cam 234 was directly energized by the closure of relay contact 206, the cam 234 causes the closure of contacts 232, 238 immediately. With the contacts 232- 238 closed and contacts 222-224 closed, current passes through line 208 and line 212 to the cutter motor 170 to maintain it energized. Simultaneously, a by-pass circuit is closed by contacts 222224 through line 207 to maintain energization of the holding relay coil 214 regardless of the position of switch 206.

In operation, the facsimile feeds the paper to the cutter and controls the operation of the cutter. The strip must be stationary during cutting. Initially, current is passing from the terminal 200 through lines 204 and 205 to the movable contact 224 of relay switch 218 to the feed motor which remains energized since contacts 220 and 224 are closed, the current passing through the feed motor 30 and returning by means of common return line 228 to terminal 202. If the facsimile receiver now calls for a severance of the web along a particular line, the normally open relay contacts 206 momentarily close allowing current to pass from terminal 200 through lines 204 and 216 to the relay coil 214 and back to the return terminal 202. The coil saturates and the movable, normally up contact 224 of relay switch 218 moves away from stationary contact 220 and closes on stationary contact 222. This opens line 226 to the paper feed motor and de-energizes the same. Even though limit switch contacts 232-238 are initially open, upon closure of normally open switch 206, current will pass directly to the cutter motor 170 through lines 204, 207 and 212 and from motor 170 through line 228 to return terminal 202. Momentary energization of the cutter motor through this circuit will rotate the cam means 234 and close the switch contacts 232 and 238. Current now passes by means of stationary contact 222 and line 230 to the limit switch contacts 232 and 238 and lines 208 and 212 to' the cutter motor 170, returning through common lines 228 to the return terminal 202 continuing the energization of the cutter motor. Simultaneously, current passes by means of lines 208, 207 and 216 to the relay coil 214 maintaining movable contact 224 and stationary contacts 222 closed, these elements performing a holding function for the relay operated switch 218. With the cutter motor operating, the lower cutter blade will move upward and to the left in the manner described previously to effect the cutting action in which the web being cut has a tendency to move into the nip between the closing cutting blades to ensure proper transverse cutting of the web 24. In driving the lower cutter blade by means of arm 174, the cutter motor also rotates cam 234 such that the projection 236 will move a full 360 to complete a single cycle of cutting operations prior to the projection 236 impinging upon the movable blade 238 and opening the normally closed contacts 232-238 of the cam operated switch 210. Opening of these contacts de-energizes the cutter motor 170 and the holding circuit allowing the normally up movable contact 234 to move away from stationary contact 222 and contact the upper stationary contact 220. Contacts 224 and 220 in closing re-energize the feed motor allowing the feed motor to move the paper web in a direction indicated by arrow 240 (FIGURE until the facsimile receiver initiates another cyclic operation of the cutter.

The electrical circuit of FIGURE 6 shows the cam member 234 as a circular disc having a cam projection 236. In actuality, by reference to FIGURE 4, the lefthand pivoted blade support arm 138 performs the camming function with respect to fixed cam-operated switch 210. Spring arm 240 acts as a cam follower with tip end 242 in contact with the oscillating arm 138. Momentary energization of the drive motor which causes rotation of driving arm 174 will result in arm 138 moving sufficiently away from follower 242 such that the microswitch portion of cam-operated switch 210 (not shown) will close switch contacts 232238 to ensure continued energization of the cutter motor. The arm 138 oscillates to the extreme vertical position identified by pivot point 162" and then returns to the position shown in FIGURE 4 opening cam-operated switch contacts 232238 and de-energizing both the cutter motor and the holding relay coil 214.

It is noted that the operation of the cutter has been described in conjunction with a fully automatic machine employing electronic signals for terminating the feed of the web and the achievement of a full cycle of cutter movement with automatic re-initiation of the web feed. Obviously, the cutter operation may be completely mechanical and manually induced either in conjunction with or entirely independent of the web feed. The only requirements are the cessation of web feed and the subsequent movement of the lower cutter blade assembly to its lower-most, inclined position after the transverse severing of the web. Again, while the cutter assembly is shown as being employed in conjunction with a wet process facsimile machine, it is fully intended that the cutting apparatus may be used independently of a facsimile machine and in face, has broad application to transverse web severance of paper or other web stock.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for cutting a web transversely of a web axis comprising: first and second blades including longitudinally extending blade cutting edges, means for supporting said blades for movement of said blade edges into intersecting and engaging relationship with respect to each other, means for positioning web stock between said blades and means for initially moving one end of said second blade predominantly transversely toward said first blade and said other end of said second blade predominantly longitudinally relative to said first blade to achieve blade edge overlap and for thereafter moving said one end predominantly longitudinally and said other end predominantly transversely to effect transverse cutting of said interposed web.

2. The cutter as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first blade is fixedly positioned with the blade edge parallel to the plane of the web being cut and said apparatus futher includes means for pivotably mounting opposed ends of said second blade with the edge of said second blade being inclined to said plane defined by the edge of said first blade, prior to initiation of the cutting stroke.

3. Apparatus for cutting a Web transversely of a web axis comprising: first and second blades having longitudinally extending blade edges, means for supporting said blades in separate planes for movement of said blade edges into intersecting and engaging relationship with respect to each other, and means for positioning web stock between said blades, said supporting means including means for initially moving one end of said second blade predominantly transversely towards said first blade and said other end of said second blade longitudinally relao tive to said first blade to cause said edges to intersect and for thereafter moving said other end predominantly transversely and said one end predominantly longitudinally toward said point of intercept whereby said web tends to move into the point of intersect between said blade edges of said blades as said point of blade edge overlap transverses the web during the cutting stroke.

4. The cutter as claimed in claim 3 wherein said supporting means includes means for pivotably mounting said second blade comprising first and second arms, means for pivotably coupling one end of said first arm to said stationary support means and the other end to said sec- 0nd blade with the center line between the pivot points being generally in line with the edge of said second blade and means for pivotably coupling respective ends of said second arm to stationary support means and said second blade with the center line between pivot points being generally at right angles to the edge of said second blade when said blades are fully open.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said means for moving said second blade comprises eccentric drive means coupled to said blade to cause said support arms to oscillate, whereby said first support arm moves from its initial in-line position to a position generally at right angles to the blade cutting edge and said second arm moves from a position generally at right angles to said second blade edge to a position nearly in line therewith,

6. The cutter as claimed in claim 3 wherein said means for supporting said second blade with respect to said first blade includes means for initially inclining said sec- 0nd blade edge With respect to said first blade edge to ensure that the second blade moves in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of blade overlap as it transverses the web being cut.

7. In a cutting apparatus for transverse cutting of a Web of indefinite length, a pair of transversely extending cutter blades positioned on opposite sides of said web, means for pivotably supporting one of said blades for rotation about an axis parallel with the cutting edge of said one blade and at right angles to the web path, means tending to twist said one blade about said axis, wall means carried by said one blade at right angles to the plane of said transversely extending blade, an adjustment disc, means for eccentrically mounting said disc on said blade wall, and a relatively fixed abutment slide positioned in the path of said adjustable eccentric, whereby the angular adjustment of the position of said eccentric on said wall determines the angular position of said blade assembly with respect to said 'Web and the other of said pair of blades.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said blade supporting means comprises means for pivotably supporting said first blade for rotation about an axis parallel with the cutting edge of said second blade and at right angles to the web path, means tending to twist said first blade about said axis and adjustable stop means for determining the angular position of said first blade cutting edge with respect to said web and said second blade.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS WILLIAM S. LAWSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

